


Gene Roddenberry is Not a Timelord

by Xanister



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Red Shirts, Time Travel, Timey-Wimey, clara is a geek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-08-27 09:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8396866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xanister/pseuds/Xanister
Summary: What if Star Trek was based on Earth's future? When the new Star Trek movies are released they contain the power to create an alternate universe with an alternative future. This future runs parallel and shouldn't be a problem... However, something is interfering and trying to replace the true timeline. The Doctor and Clara need to find it and stop it before present day Earth is destroyed -- all while Clara struggles with the fact that a favourite TV character is real.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Gene Roddenberry may have been a time lord. I apologize to his family and estate if he was. Any references to him are made with all due respect. This fic will have some swearing in it. Any adult material may be alluded to but not described/shown.

Clara turned the badge over and over in her fingers while the Doctor spoke until he paused and his eyes eventually fell to it. Her eyes traveled down too, having momentarily forgotten still had it in her hand. “I forgot to leave it in my desk,” she said, holding it up so the Doctor could have a better look at it. “One of my students decided the pin back was for poking others rather than holding it onto their clothing. 

“May I?” The Doctor asked and Clara gave a little shrug before handing it over. 

“I will need to give it back Doctor, so please don’t take it apart.”

The Doctor twisted his face and looked slightly hurt. Clara wasn’t sure if it was the accusation or just the general statement that did it. He scanned the symbol on the badge with his sonic screwdriver briefly and then looked at the reading. “I thought so. This marking is from twenty-third century Earth, Starfleet I believe the organization was called, but the actual badge is twenty first century manufacturing.” 

Clara laughed, “Good one Doctor, but Starfleet can’t be real. It’s fictional.”

The Doctor looked very confused, “Is it?” He scanned the badge again.

“It’s made up! The badge is based on a TV show called Star Trek. A new movie came out so all the students are talking about it. That symbol represents the science division.” 

“Very interesting. “ The Doctor tossed the badge back to her before turned away. If he had heard what she said he didn’t respond directly, and was now pressing buttons on the console. A bell chimed and the Time Lord turned the viewer screen towards Clara. She took a step forward narrowing her eyes to read the text: 

Search: _Starfleet, History of, Earth_

**Year 2161** – Starfleet and its Academy founded, coinciding with the creation of the United Federation of Planets.

The text continued on but Clara turned her attention back to the Doctor. She stood, struggling to find words with what she read. It could all just be from the internet, maybe from some fan site and the Doctor was trying to pull a prank on her. It didn’t seem likely. Shoving down the confusion she let out a sigh, her voice was laced with exasperation. 

“Doctor, the show began in the 1960s, are you saying a time traveler came back and started writing stories about aliens, space travel and adventures based on actual facts?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time a time traveler came back to Earth in the 1960s,” he said and Clara sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not saying the TV show was entirely accurate, Clara. I’m no expert, but one of my earlier incarnations was rather a fan of the show and if I recall, a lot of it was purely for entertainment. In actuality there were far more women on the ship called Enterprise and Orion women had gained their independence by that period in time. They were no longer slaves and often flew their own ships.”

Clara couldn’t believe this, it was like being told Bambi had not only actually existed, but could actually talk like the cartoon. “What about all the characters? I watched that show with my cousins when I was little. They were all so, fantastical. Vulcans, Andorians, Kingons… Kirk, Spock, McCoy, were… are they real?” 

The Doctor tapped at a few keys and glanced at the viewer. On the screen two columns appeared and in one were the cast and events of the Star Trek franchise and in the other an encyclopedic description of the USS Enterprise and crew. Similarities and differences were highlighted in different colours. The text relaying the events surrounding the actual spaceship Enterprise seemed to waver slightly, like the letters were breathing.

“It appears so, although highly dramatized in their adventures and they seem to have taken some liberties with their appearance. James T. Kirk did Captain a ship called the Enterprise and was regarded as a highly successful leader and diplomat. His First Officer was Spock, who was part Vulcan and part human, and their Chief Medical Officer was named Dr. Leonard McCoy. It seems this time traveler took a very famous crew from his day and made them into TV stars. As humans in that time had nothing to compare it to, it was deemed ground-breaking. 

Clara pointed to a short paragraph, “It says here Gene couldn’t get the show off the ground in the 23rd century as the actual Kirk, Spock and McCoy wouldn’t allow their likenesses to be used. That makes him… a time traveler. Doctor, was Gene Roddenberry a time lord?” The thought was very exciting, had her cousin met a time lord at a convention all those years ago?

The Doctor’s face fell. “No, Clara, he was most likely part of the test projects to improve the past. There were government projects that were very secret. After the incident with the extinction of the humpback whales, it seems it was realized that time travel was an important part of defense and maintaining relations with other species.”

“Humpback whales?” She laughed. “Now I know you’re joking, humpback whales according to the fourth Star Trek movie,” she placed a little more emphasis on movie than was necessary, “were supposed to have gone extinct by the 21st century and they still exist today in the wild.” Clara crossed her arms in a rather triumphant motion. 

The Doctor grinned. “In no small part because of that movie, I’d wager. You can’t look at every lil’ fact Clara, it was still a TV show. I’m sure they left out really interesting adventures in favour of really boring ones.” 

The Impossible Girl felt impossibly overwhelmed and she took a seat in front of the railing near the viewer. Her brain was trying to reason all of this new information out, but her rational side was trying to debunk it at the same time. The badge felt warm in her hand and she quickly put it in the pocket of the navy coloured skirt she wore. She had loved the show when she was younger, but as is normal with kids, had grown apart from it as she got older and pursued other passions. Her cousins had preferred the later versions, but something about the original had always stuck in her brain. Maybe it was the intellect, ok she could admit to a slight crush on Spock. She looked up to see the Doctor studying her and she managed a smile. If this was true, if, where did she start and more importantly, could they go and meet the REAL people who inspired the TV show… Could they meet the real Spock?

“It would seem that Roddenberry told someone else about who he really was and about the future,“ the Doctor said, scanning the entries on the current franchise and the history of the Enterprise. “The shows continued after he passed on, yet they have truths about the future.” The Doctor was talking, but was facing the viewer once again. “Very interesting.” 

“Doctor?” Clara was looking at the Doctor and his shoulders seemed to slouch a little. When he turned, his hand rested near his face and he was tapping his cheek in contemplation. “What is it?” 

“Clara, you mentioned new movies,” he took a step back so Clara could see what he had been reading. The information was being written as she was reading it and everything that seemed to move a little before seemed to be in flux. Then, the screen shook and a third column began to form to the right of the “Entry About Starfleet.” The Doctor tried to key over to another page, but even as he did so, moving through the information about the Star Trek franchise on Earth, another sequence of events was being spelled out elsewhere in the future.

“An alternate timeline.” The Doctor’s voice was hushed, he sounded both amazed and worried. “Clara, these new movies are they on a different timeline than the original series of television shows?” 

She nodded. “Same characters, but people call them the Kelvin timeline.” She left out why it was called that; she was feeling very nerdy, which was saying something considering the Doctor. 

“And this Kelvin timeline has different events?” 

Clara nodded again, where was he going with this? “Vulcan is destroyed in these movies, Spock’s mother is killed and Kirk’s father dies.” She swore she heard a muttered, ‘spoilers’ in response but she continued on, “one of the characters from the original series comes back through the timeline creating the alternate timeline. They’re different movies with different actors. Even if the original is based on the future,” she still wasn’t completely convinced, “then these ones have to be completely fictional. You can’t have two totally different versions of the same universe. Unless…” She trailed off as the Doctor stared. She knew that look, it was the look that said, ‘what you said was very stupid, but I remember that I’m not supposed to call you stupid out loud. Instead I’ll stare at you.’ “Unless you can?” 

“Yes, you can.” The Doctor jumped into action and was he smiling? “Someone is re-writing the future through these movies and creating an alternate future. This new Kelvin future,“ he hit a button, then pulled a lever, “now exists alongside the original future,” two more buttons and Clara saw the viewer change. “Which shouldn’t matter, there are parallel universes everywhere. Each time you do something another universe is created with the choice you didn’t choose. The problem is someone within that new future is beginning to push the original timeline into flux, trying to erase it. Erase too far back and modern Earth may not exist. We should be able to find this entity, stop it, and change small events to correct the alternative timeline and keep it from interfering with the original.” 

“So we’re going into the Star Trek universe.” Clara said, deadpan. She looked unimpressed, but she was beyond giddy on the inside. She had a hand in the pocket with the badge and she held it to stop her hand from shaking at the idea.

“No –“ The Doctor began. 

“Good,” Clara interrupted, “that would be cr-.” 

“We’re going into your future which happens to resemble the television show Star Trek.” He interjected before flipping a lever. Clara didn’t have time to argue, she had to hold on to the railing as the TARDIS groaned, creaked and then started towards her destination.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter is long. From here on out I will try to do a little Star Trek and a little Doctor Who in each chapter, but that may not always be possible. Also, creating random security officers is a lot of fun.

The memories of Khan and his drop-off on Ceti Alpha V were still fresh in the minds of the crew as the USS Enterprise answered a call from Starfleet Command. Their task: to bring a delegate and her entourage from Altrix III back to Earth for a important meeting regarding their status within the Federation. It was a quick pick up and drop off mission that the Captain had been assured was important and would allow the Enterprise to move on with their star charting assignment. Even with its stated importance and quick turnaround James T. Kirk was less than impressed.

“We’re becoming a transport ship,” Kirk mumbled from the Captain’s chair. It could have been worse, Kirk thought, the delegate had seemed pleasant enough and she had insisted that while she would love to socialize with the ship’s crew, her aim was to stay out of the way of the day-to-day operations of the ship as much as possible. “Mr. Chekov,” he addressed the ship’s navigator, “how long will it take us to get the lovely delegate and her entourage back to Earth?“

Chekov did a few quick calculations and then glanced back, “at current heading and speed of warp factor 5, we will arrive in approximately 47 hours, Keptin.” 

“Thank you Mr. Chekov, warp five will do nicely.” He weighed the pros and cons of increasing speed, but decided against it. Even if he was anxious to get back to their journey through uncharted space mapping stars and new planets, he could wait two days to ensure the delegate had a comfortable journey. He was impatient, but not that impatient.

The delegate and her entourage were an interesting group; he had spotted only one life form that would have been read as male on Earth, the rest were female of varying sizes and shapes all clothed in different coloured flowing silky robes. Although none of them wore any scarves or cloth on their faces they remained hooded in their presence. The delegates right-hand, an equivalent to a first officer on Altrix III hadn’t said a word to either Jim or Spock when they had boarded the Enterprise. When he pressed his memory he realized no one except the planet’s representative had spoken at all. Afterwards Spock had explained it was to avoid misunderstandings. Like Vulcans they spoke logically, but unlike them they strove to use adapt their dialogue and use the phrases and language of the beings they conversed with. To be misunderstood or misconstrued was a mark on their honour and their home world. The delegate, tall and confident with her intricate hairstyle of golden and fiery red locks had spoken for her entourage in a strong but kind voice. Their only requests had been for quarters and storage for their possessions near to where they would be residing. Kirk had granted their requests and left them to organizing their quarters with one of his security team to assist them should they require it. 

He glanced to his right, where his first officer was looking through the scope at his station, examining a soil sample which had been gifted from Altrix III. “Mr. Spock, the people of Altrix III, if I remember correctly they are usually a very reserved people and ones quick to avoid contact.” 

The Vulcan science officer straightened at his post and took a moment to think before speaking. “That’s correct Captain, the people of Altrix III are a very organized, intelligent species that usually refrains from leaving their own planet and thus avoiding conflict. Until recently the Altrix were regarded as xenophobic, often refusing visitors from outside worlds. However, their closed borders were because of their need to avoid being misunderstood not as a show of supremacy. Their customs are very intricate and they possess strict rules on whom may speak and when. It was regarded by some as a ‘small miracle’ when fourteen months ago they were invited to join the United Federation of Planets after lengthy trade negotiations.“

“A small miracle, Spock, you don’t say.” His first officer had recently begun experimenting with Earth sayings and Kirk was always happy to assist in these lessons. 

“I believe that is the correct colloquialism, meaning something that is regarded to having a very small percentage of chance to occur, and thus surprising the speaker when it does in fact occur.” 

“Yes Spock, that is precisely the meaning. So, miracles aside, why do they need a delegate to go to Earth and discuss their situation with the Federation so soon?” 

Spock thought for a moment. “Perhaps they find no benefit to their treaty, and are attempting to break it before the standard five year period. However, that is only a supposition Captain, I do not have all the facts necessary to give you an answer.” 

“I understand Spock, thank you.” Kirk flashed a smile and turned away from the Vulcan. 

He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. A yeoman brought shift paperwork for him to look over and he did, noting the numbers and approving a change for the next day with his signature at the bottom. Jim Kirk enjoyed many things in life and paperwork was not even near the list. The Yeoman was smart enough to recognize that though and made a point of bringing paperwork to him when things were calm which allowed him to look busy when things were running smoothly. Things were running smoothly now and the Captain wasn’t complaining, but he felt on edge. He leaned back a bit in his chair, taking in the hum of life support systems and electrical systems and the quiet hush of officers discussing charts, personal matters and their daily tasks. Charting unknown sectors gave him reason to be alive, but there was something to be said for just flying through space at a comfortable warp speed to make someone appreciate the finer things in life. His crew knew their jobs and did them very well, it made a Captain proud.

He noted a quiet joke between Chekov and Sulu, and then observed the look of irritation Spock gave them as he attempted to study something at his station. Jim smiled, in a few hours the shifts would switch and he would find the time to have a drink with Bones or maybe challenge Spock to a game of chess. He may even find out if Scotty had put in that new food dispenser unit they had picked up. Things were good, and James Kirk was happy to know that when he found his attention slipping just a tiny bit he didn’t have to be worried. 

He glanced to his left to watch a member of the security team head towards the Turbo-Lift and felt his skin turn to goosebumps and then go cold. It was as though he had stepped outside with bare arms in the middle of winter back in Iowa. He began to shift in his chair, to ask Uhura what was going on, if Scotty was testing the temperature of the bridge when he saw it.

There next to him, barely visible, was the shimmering outline of someone sitting in a command chair just like his. This apparition was young, but if James squinted just right he would swear that it was a younger version of him, dressed in command gold. This “other him” was missing some lines on his face and his hair was the tiniest bit fuller. If he had to guess, he would say this apparition was not directly out of the Academy, but still fresh with only a few years under his belt. The apparition didn’t appear to notice him, brow furrowed he gestured for whomever was ahead of him to do something. No sound came out of his moving mouth. Kirk glanced at the rest of his crew from Uhura to Spock and then to Sulu. Each was going about their daily tasks with the same dedication they always did and none noticed the apparition. When he glanced back it was gone as quickly as it came. As the chill under his skin began to warm he wondered if his poor sleep the night before and his worry about the Delegate coming aboard, was the cause of this hallucination. He spent long moments just looking around the bridge, his heart racing and his mind keeping pace with it. Vowing to check in with McCoy after his shift he settled back into his chair, planning to contemplate what he had seen until shift change and tried to convince himself it was just a misremembered memory of time gone by and something easily solved with a drink and good company.

\----- 

Clara was the first out of the TARDIS, dashing past the Doctor and out the door before he had a chance to say anything. It only occurred to her after she was opening the doors that she hadn’t even asked where and when they were going. She could be forgiven such formalities as checking the viewer before going outside in this kind of circumstance. Her hand pulled open the door and she stepped out into a room with gray walls. There was nothing special about it compared to the other ships she had visited with the Doctor, but it sparked memories the longer she looked around. Clara walked towards one of the gray walls, running a hand down the smooth surface and then lightly across it as she walked parallel. The wall was cool but not cold, and although she had assumed it was metal something told her there was more to it than that. 

The Doctor had emerged right after her, and was now examining a terminal. Casting his eyes this way, brows knit and furrowed he made a noise of amusement. “Hum of electronics, air recycler, life support systems – far louder than they need to be. This is the USS Enterprise.” The schoolteacher from Earth momentarily froze. She was touching the wall of the USS Enterprise. The thought made her giddy. 

“This looks like a storage room,” she commented, gesturing towards the large locked metal boxes. 

The Doctor nodded. He soniced a terminal and the words: “current location” flashed. He tapped it.

“Current location is storage room delta.” The computer answered the unspoken question. The Doctor put away his sonic screwdriver turning towards Clara, “it seems the TARDIS would rather land aboard the Enterprise than Earth like I asked.” 

Clara chuckled, “can you blame her? This is the USS Enterprise Doctor, the actual ship not a stage with sets. The TARDIS appreciates a good starship.” 

The Doctor sighed but there was a glint of humour in his eyes. “Yes, yes, the TARDIS has excellent taste. But, you aren’t going to compare everything to the television show are you?” There was a second’s pause before he tacked on making a ‘so-so’ motion with one slender hand, “the transporter effects were close though, they were not as quick in real life, not as glittery either.”

Clara didn’t know if the Doctor was teasing or not. “Are you sad that the transporters weren’t… aren’t glittery?” Getting correct tense didn’t get easier, even when you spend time with a time traveller. 

Attack eyebrows arched, thin limbs gesturing in a parody of offense being taken by her statement. “You’ve seen the TARDIS, lots of moving and sound when we move through time and space. Traveling through space should always be a show Clara, that’s what the people of Omni Prime believe. They made a grand spectacle of simply going to shops; there were parades and streamers…” 

Clara chuckled. “Ok, you’ve made your point.” She appreciated the show of good humour she was getting from the Doctor, and she knew in his alien way that he was trying very hard to be accommodating and light-hearted. She forced her attention back on the room, what could she see? The room wasn’t a complete duplicate of the TV show, the actual ship inspired it and she began to see little differences here and there. One big difference lay in the boxes and crates in the storage room that the TARDIS had chosen to appear in. The outsides were smooth and no seams were visible anywhere she ran her fingertips. When pressure was applied near the top a lid rose and opened with a small click. These were far more modern than the TV show’s production time period had allowed. Clara had started to look in one of the metal boxes before she stopped and turned towards the Doctor. A sudden thought had just dawned on her. “Are we going to just walk out of this storage room onto the Enterprise” 

“Yes,” he said to his companion, “why not? Starships often have guests aboard; we’ll just act like guests. We don’t ask too many questions until we know when we are and we should be fine. If this parallel universe is bleeding through, it would make sense for it to happen here where the time disturbance began. If the universe bleeds through… Clara, help me with this,” a pause, “please.”

The school teacher reluctantly left the box full of brightly coloured clothes and jewelry she had been looking in, to walk over to the terminal and hold a couple of wires while the Doctor ‘adjusted the current of the internal recognition switch.’ Part of her time on the TARDIS had been trying to enforce words like ‘please’ and remove references to the intellect of humans. It was slow progress. He was almost elbow deep in the terminal when the door whooshed open and Clara bit back her exhalation of relief. Both Timelord and teacher looked up to see the dark haired red-shirted security officer standing in the doorway. 

Both of them were about to speak, mouths poised, when the security officer spoke first. “What are you do –“ came out strong and confident, which quickly gave way to swallowing and looking a little nervous at the situation. “Oh! Oh, So sorry!” He stammered, his authoritarian tones reduced to a strangely accented and worried pattern of speech. Clara guessed at the accent being a strange hybrid of Scottish, American and French? “This room oft’n locks from the outside to protect guests’ belongings. Please, let me show you back to the delegates quarters and please forgive my question, I don’t expect you to answer.” 

The Doctor nodded and Clara remembered his advice to say nothing. She didn’t make eye contact as she passed the security officer and the security officer, who gave his name as Ensign DeLain, gave his apologies again with a curt bow and began to lead the way down the corridor. 

“My sincere apologies. There was a crew shift change, Lieutenant Nolan…” He began to explain and Clara noted the Doctor’s gaze changed gears. Ensign Delain seemed to notice as well. “I believe the Delegate and the rest of her companions have gone to dine together tonight as tomorrow, Captain Kirk is hosting a dinner in her honour. Can I bring you anything? Right, I’m sure you’ll wish to change.” He had opened a door to one of the quarters and was waiting expectantly. The Doctor was looking at her and Clara felt both sets of eyes on her like heated weights. If the Doctor was deferring to her than that meant she was playing the part in a culture where women or younger people made the decisions? Inwardly she sighed, but her expression didn’t change. She shook her head, but cast her eyes down briefly in what she hoped was a nod. She could see a small smile in the corner of the Doctor’s mouth and knew she had done the right thing. 

Delain gave a little bow, “my apologies I had forgotten the Delegate’s entourage doesn’t speak without her present. Good evening to you both.” 

Clara waited until Delain was around the corner before she looked at the Doctor and made a gesture she hoped expressed her confusion and her relief about their current situation. 

“It seems,” the Doctor began, as he cast his eyes into the room, “we are part of an entourage.” He gestured for Clara to lead the way into the room and Clara grinned in response. He followed her in the open door of the quarters they had been escorted to and Clara stopped and turned as the door shut with a soft ‘whoosh’. Her grin expanded before she schooled her features into something more serious – or at least attempted to do so. The Doctor held his finger to his lips and Clara bit back her words. Peeking into the few rooms that had places someone could be hiding, the Doctor rejoined Clara when he was sure they were alone, and then Clara spoke. 

“Did you find anyone?” Clara picked up a flowing smoky gray robe from the floor and letting the fabric slide through her fingers. It was very pretty, too pretty to be tossed on the ground. The swirls seemed to move like actual smoke on the fabric. She folded it gently and set it on top of one of the boxes near the door. 

The Doctor was watching her examine the fabric and cleared his throat before he spoke. “No, it’s just us for now. The Delegate is from the planet Altrix or one of its neighbouring satellites, judging by the fashion. They are known throughout the galaxy for their textiles.” Clara couldn’t be sure, but had she seen fabric like this in one of the bedrooms on the TARDIS? “I would guess they have recently joined the Federation. Did you notice that security officer, Defrane, Duck, whatever he called himself --” 

“Delain,” Clara offered and smiling she gave a quick ‘go on’ gesture with her hand. 

“Yes, him.” The Doctor waved it away as unimportant. “His name isn’t the point. He didn’t know who we were and didn’t know who we should be, well enough to know whether we were who we said we were. That means the Delegate and her entourage have only recently arrived.” 

Clara attempted to follow his line of reasoning. The ship’s crew would know the basic information and protocols necessary to make sure they didn’t upset the Delegate, but most of the lower ranking crew wasn’t likely given up to date bios of each member of her entourage. Detailed information would be on a need to know basis. “Guest information is need to know. So, if we stay away from the actual delegate then we should be able to explore the ship without too many questions.” 

The Doctor nodded. “The Delegate and her entourage. Although the senior officers would have names and information, Altrix usually remain hooded around foreign bloods.” He reached out a hand and pointed to the robe that Clara had just folded and placed so carefully near the door. She looked at it and with a quizzical look on her face picked it up and offered it to him. 

“I’m not sure it’s your size Doctor,” Clara said as she passed it to him. Her smile was met with a questioning expression followed by a small shake of his head. 

“I’m checking it for tracking chips, it’s common practice that beings from suspicious worlds will tag their clothing to prevent them being stolen.” It was a smaller garment and took moments to check. Satisfied he couldn’t find anything that he knew to be a tracker he passed it back to Clara. “Gray is a good colour on you,” the Doctor offered and when Clara seemed surprised by this comment the Doctor backtracked, “I think. It makes you look like a little cloud.” His forehead crinkled slightly as he narrowed his eyebrows. He glanced down at his own hoodie to avoid meeting her eyes. 

Clara could just imagine what he was thinking, clouds were interesting, humans stopped to watch them all the time. To him, that had seemed like a nice thing to say. “That was a sweet thing to say,” she said as she donned the smoky, smooth fabric.

The Doctor picked up a long navy coloured robe, the hue was almost the colour of the TARDIS and he quickly repeated the process to look for any potential chip. When he found a tag sewn discreetly, almost invisibly, into the seam where arm met the rest of the robe, the Doctor held it up to show Clara (just a little bit triumphant, he was showing off) before exchanging it for one that was slightly larger and a forest green colour. That one was deemed to be tracker-free so the Doctor put it on and put the hood up. “Remember Clara, don’t speak.”

Clara mimicked his actions with her own hood after quickly looping her hair up into a ponytail to conceal it within the folds of fabric. Taking a deep breath she headed towards the door. When it slid open (she would never get tired of that sound) she stepped into the corridor. She was no more than a step past the threshold when she froze at the voices traveling down the hall. The Doctor gently bumped into her as she blocked the doorway.

“I’m telling you Bones, this vision looked just like a younger version of me, but no one else seemed to see it. Either I’m losing it or the bridge crew is.”

“Jim, you’ve been working hard lately, with the delegate and the star charts that Spock wants to complete, any Captain would start seeing things. Have you considered that you’re spreading yourself too thin, that you’re stressed? I can give you something to help you sleep.” 

These were not the actors she grew up listening to, but the cadence of the words and word choice were the same. If she was honest she could even hear a little bit of a Southern lilt to Dr. McCoy’s voice. It reminded her of hearing a performance of a play and later seeing it on a different stage. The performances were both excellent, but the first had already embedded itself in her mind with those players being the “correct” players. She turned to see two familiar people striding down the hall deep in conversation. She was having difficulty believing what she was seeing: humans, one clad in a gold command shirt and the other, slightly older clad in a blue short-sleeved medical tunic walking side-by-side, both talking and paying little attention to their surroundings as they neared Clara and the Doctor. Clara was trying not to stare but failing. She couldn’t see that many differences between these two actual people and the actors that played them on television in the 1960s. Little things like eye colour, slightly different hair shade were noticeable but the physique and height were practically exact.

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder and while he didn’t pull her back she did take a step back to allow the ship’s Captain and Chief Medical Officer to pass. The Captain smiled and inclined his head towards them, and the ships Doctor offered a good-natured greeting. She wanted to say a lot of things, but keeping her persona as a member of the entourage she held her tongue and kept the bubbling words at bay. The Doctor remained silent until the two officers were out of earshot. 

“That was Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy,” Clara said, sounding a bit amazed. “Actual, real, flesh and blood Kirk and McCoy. They were speaking just like they do on the television show.”

“A vision of a younger version of himself,“ the Doctor commented, oblivious to her comments. 

“Does that mean that it’s started? Do you think the timeline has started to bleed through?” 

The Doctor thought for a moment. When she spoke his voice was void of the good humour he had laced it with earlier on. “This is just the beginning, if left long enough we could have two of everyone on this ship. Then, this Enterprise would stop existing altogether, torn apart by the new reality. Hundreds of people would cease to exist, including us. Our timeline will be gone, and everything will be replaced by the alternate universe. We need to find what’s causing this.” The Doctor let go of Clara’s shoulder and started down the hall in the same direction McCoy and Kirk had gone. Clara took a deep breath and started after him.


	3. Chapter 3

Clara and the Doctor walked like ghosts in their hooded robes. All around them the ship went about its daily activities and the corridor filled with the murmurs of electronic and organic sounds. The background noises hadn’t been the same on the television show; the ship was louder and more alive in person. Crewmembers acted respectful as the false Altrix made their way through the ship, even when a pair passed in deep conversation there was a pause for a nod in acknowledgement, but Clara noticed they were given a wide berth. In her own silence she was trying to drink in all the details of the ship, noting the little differences and the abundance of similarities. As they followed the corridor, they heard a strong female voice. 

“I respect this hospitality. The food was wonderful. I would not change any aspect of the ingredients used or its presentation.” 

The Doctor slowed, but didn’t stop and Clara adjusted her stride next to him. Her first hope was that it was the Delegate’s voice, however Clara realized that there could be any number of alien species that spoke that way. If the word “wonderful” hadn’t been used she would wonder if it was a Vulcan. That was a naïve way of thinking, she thought glumly. She chided herself that she knew nothing about this world for certain; everything was based on the supposition that the television show had correctly depicted this time and world. 

“I agree with your Ladyship; your voice speaks for us in its truth.” The second voice was slightly deeper than the first. A murmur of agreement followed from a number of softer voices, no louder than the level parents use after their small child has been tucked into bed. 

Clara glanced up to the Doctor. She didn’t dare say anything as they walked the corridor, but she was getting nervous at how close they were getting to the source of the voice. She shortened her stride slightly as the Doctor kept the same pace. “Doctor…” her voice was no louder than a hiss. “Doctor…” and he glanced down with his eyebrows raised. “What are you doing?” The question came out all squished together and barely audible. 

“We’re going to join the other Altrix,” he said it so matter-of-factly, as though he was commenting on the weather. 

“What?!” Her voice rose a little and she had to make an effort to drop the volume again to a shushed whisper. “Doctor, they’ll know we aren’t part of their group.” She realized she sounded a little bit panicked, probably because she was. The Doctor wasn’t usually this reckless. Usually. Well, she thought to herself, at least without a plan. Her gaze darted from the Timelord beside her to the end of the corridor where it turned. 

“Have a little confidence Clara. Remember, if the worst comes to pass, the best way to find out someone’s plan is to get yourself captured.”

They rounded the corner and the group of six (including the Delegate) that waited there turned towards them. They all wore shimmering cloaks like Clara and the Doctor’s, each a different colour and either belted or fastened in some way to gather the material together and keep it from dragging on the ship’s deck. The Delegate with her red and blond hair was the only one without a hood on her shimmering cloak. The being to the Delegate’s right wore a black sash around her waist and Clara wondered if that was whose voice she had heard. 

“I was told the last of my entourage had already arrived. Was I given incorrect information?” she glanced to her right, “Please, speak Second.” 

The hooded figure gave a small bow towards the Doctor and Clara. She didn’t remove her hood, instead turning slightly towards the Delegate. “Your Ladyship, the information you were given was correct for the time it was requested. These two with our robes and manners of deportment must be additional bodies to assist you in your duties. This is my only explanation.” She finished her statement with a short bow to Clara and the Doctor and then a longer, more formal bow to the Delegate. 

The Delegate considered these words, staring at the new arrivals with sharp, keen green eyes. For a long moment Clara was sure that they had been found out, that her and the Doctor would be thrown in the Enterprise brig to await trial on some alien planet for impersonating an official. However, the Delegate finally broke her gaze with the two travelers, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear before turning to her Second. Her voice was softer than before, a reassuring tone to Clara and seemingly relaxed with her Second’s explanation. “Then this explanation shall be the only answer until another presents itself. Thank you Second.” 

She looked back at the group, gesturing with her hand for Clara and the Doctor to come closer and join in the cloaked, silent entourage. She rested a hand on Clara’s shoulder, the touch causing the pattern on the fabric to ripple away from her hand in a smoky, silky stream before returning. It was both a commanding touch that drew her attention and one of welcome and Clara found herself without any discomfort given the sudden gesture. Although the Delegate didn’t smile, she was calm and friendly to the strangers. “Welcome to you both. Tomorrow we dine with the Captain and his senior officers. Those who have just joined us will share my quarters. Do any have issues to raise? You may speak.” When no one answered, the Delegate gave a curt nod to her words, which seemed to be a formality more than a genuine question. She dropped her hand off Clara’s shoulder and swept past the group. “With me please.” 

The group turned and began to follow immediately; Clara saw the Doctor quickly sweep his sonic screwdriver over the back of one of the Delegate’s entourage. He glanced at the readings before stashing the sonic back in a pocket inside his sleeve. Clara drifted near the back with the Doctor, attempting to maintain any sort of distance with the rest of the group without appearing to do so. The Doctor spoke barely above a whisper, and Clara had to strain to hear him. “Whatever is being used to alter time is on this ship and the timeline has already begun to bleed through.” 

\---

The ship’s captain sat across from Dr. Leonard McCoy in the area that amounted to his office, a bottle of pale blue liquid on the table in between them amidst the doctor’s usual data discs and two thick glasses. The sickbay was quiet and even Nurse Chapel and gone to eat while the two men talked. McCoy gave a little huff when the Captain finished relaying his experience on the bridge. “Seeing visions of yourself as a young man commanding the Enterprise? You’re tired, Jim. You’re stressed and need some shore leave, or at least some time off. It doesn’t take a medical degree to see that.” 

“And are you saying that as my friend or as the ship’s Chief Medical Officer?” Kirk quipped and he smiled around the glass he had lifted to his lips, pausing for a brief second as Bones grumbled, before he took a long drink of the Antarean Brandy. “I’m telling you Bones, what I saw looked like me, but it wasn’t me. I wasn’t seeing something I remembered, I was seeing something happening for the first time right there on the bridge.” 

“And you say no one else seemed to notice it?” 

“That’s right. Everyone kept about their daily business.” Jim took the last swig as if to punctuate his answer and set down the now empty glass. He was contemplating pouring another, but with the Delegate and her entourage on board he knew it was irresponsible to have even this much in his system. 

Bones’ eyes caught a glimmer and he set down his own glass as well, blankly staring just past the blue liquid still left in it. There was a moment of silence before he spoke. “It could be psychological, maybe a virus or a parasite brought on by the Altrix entourage…” Bones was talking, but it was directed less at Jim and more to himself. “If it was a parasite, I would suspect there would be others experiencing the effects, although…” Bones trailed off, mumbling names that sounded like the ancient dead language Latin. 

Kirk had to admit he enjoyed when any of his senior officers got into their work and really worked through a problem. Each of them had their own way of working through things, Bones was more fun than Spock as he talked to himself when he had a problem to solve and it was in a language he understood, unlike Scotty. However, as he was part of the problem he did feel like he should participate. “Bones? Should –“ 

“We need to run diagnostics,” Bones interrupted. “Neural synapse response time, full brain work-up. Nurse Chapel should be back very soon to assist.” He looked at the liquid remaining in his glass and slid it along with the bigger bottle into a hidden drawer. “It could just be stress, Jim,” Bones said, and as if just realizing how quickly he had gone from zero to sixty with the thought of parasites and viruses he added, “probably is just stress. We’ll run the tests to be sure.” 

“Yes, Doctor.” Kirk said with a smirk and chuckled when Bones rolled his eyes in response. Jim was sure he heard a grumble but he didn’t catch what it was about as it was then that both of them glanced up, the sound of the sickbay doors opening and closing filled the room. His nerves had been settled somewhat thanks to the brandy and McCoy’s assurances and he felt comfortable with some medical tests to put both of their minds at ease. McCoy was already standing and Kirk was getting ready to stand when Nurse Chapel’s voice carried into the room speaking with someone they couldn’t see from where they had been sitting. A quiet exchange occurred although Jim could only hear one side of it. 

“DOCTOR!” 

Nurse Chapel’s voice split the air and both McCoy and Kirk were up and running into the room. Both stopped when they saw what had alarmed Nurse Chapel. The unknown man standing in the middle of the room wearing science blue standard issue uniform was completely silent, he seemed to only partially be there, phased in two places at once like someone energizing onto a transporter pad. He was gesturing, his mouth moving without sound. Kirk tapped the intercom on the wall and summoned security to sickbay, moreso out of habit than actual worry for their safety. Although he seemed more ‘there’ in the room, this man reminded him of the hallucination on the bridge. He looked familiar, very familiar, but there was something off about him even though Kirk couldn’t quite put his finger on what was ‘right’ about him. 

Kirk looked to his Chief Medical Officer who was staring daggers at this intruder. “Bones,” Kirk said, worried by the mixture of worry, fear and confusion on his friend’s face. However, two faces turned to him at the nickname and then they turned to each other in confusion. “Wait.” Kirk said, before either could speak and he took a step closer to the stranger so he could look at them both at the same time. “Bones, this man looks remarkably like you when you were younger.” 

“You can see him too?” Bones said, his voice hitched in panic and his eyes wide. “Dammit Jim, what is going on!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just on the Star Trek side. Next chapter will be focused on the Doctor and Clara. All my apologies for the wait.

Security streamed into the sickbay, three men in red shirts who hung back as soon as the Captain put up a hand. Jim Kirk took wide steps around the stranger, looking for something, anything that could explain how he had appeared or who he was. The Enterprise not only had main shields that were kept up in these situations, but also the deflector shields should damage be done to the former. With these in place to prevent someone from teleporting into the middle of a ship, as well as state of the art detection sensors, Kirk knew there had to be something else, something bigger. The bridge had reported nothing out of the ordinary and there had been no interference. Something about this intruder (more than just the fact he was standing in the middle of sickbay confident of where he was and familiar with his surroundings) irked the Captain. The Leonard McCoy he knew had training, but this intruder had a military air about him. 

The intruder didn’t move or offer violence, if Jim didn’t see him blink and occasionally shift on his feet he would think that he was frozen to the spot. There were little things that he was beginning to pick up on; small nudges that were putting his mind back to his chief medical officer. He made note of the standard issue science uniform, which could have easily been procured in any number of Federation supply bases. Yet, his eyes fell to the intruder’s hand and he couldn’t make excuses for that ring, the identical one his Bones currently wore. The same ring? What did that mean? Did they have doppelgangers somewhere? Was this a Leonard McCoy of some other dimension? Maybe this was the first of a group of clones or shape-shifting aliens. There had been a lesson about this in the Academy, clones and shape-shifters very often got the little details wrong. They aimed for the big picture.

He began compiling a list of inaccuracies and differences in his mind. Then he tried to organize them. He had known Bones since he came aboard the Enterprise many years ago and as such he had seen photos of him as a young doctor. If this was a clone it wasn’t a very good one, certain features were completely off. There was enough of a similarity that Kirk couldn’t shake the feeling that this was Leonard McCoy, just not the same man currently staring wide-eyed at the intruder.

“Bones, can I talk to you for a minute?” Kirk found he now had both men’s attention and he gave a little snort. He had to give it to whoever this was, that was good acting. “This Bones,” he said with a hint of a smile, pointing to the older McCoy, and let Leonard lead the way out of earshot, but still within eyesight of the intruder.

“What is going on Jim,” Bones hissed. “That man looks almost eerily like me when I joined my first ship! There’s things wrong here and there, but at a glance it’s right!” Bones, his Bones, looked like he had seen a ghost, his skin was pale and he struggled to regain a neutral expression before he added, “maybe, maybe this is some sort of shape-shifting alien trying to… get access to the ship.”

Kirk nodded, this was on his list of possibilities. “Maybe they simply used the wrong time. The more important question is why would someone clone a younger version of you?”

Bones shook his head in correction. “Jim, it’s not a clone. I’ve never looked exactly like that. Even at that age I didn’t look exactly like that, it’s an approximation. It’s like someone drawing a picture of a person based on memory.” Bones knew he was repeating himself, but it was a fact that bore repeating. They had encountered species that participated in cloning, either as a means of furthering their species instead of traditional reproduction or as a means of building armies for war. This didn’t fit with either scenario. “I don’t like this, something doesn’t fit.”

“You’re right Bones. We need Spock down here.” Bones didn’t argue, he didn’t make any wisecracks and comments. He just gave a stern nod. They walked back to the intruder together. The stranger was looking around, yet remained rooted to the spot. His lack of movement or hostile actions had caused the security officers to stand at ease, each of them keeping hands close to their phasers and eyes trained on the intruder, but they had begun to relax a little. Between a moment of silence and the lack of anything actually happening, one security crew officer actually jumped when Kirk walked back over to them, stepping towards the wall. Kirk shot him a glance that he hoped was a combination of amusement and rebuke. He tapped the communications panel. “Kirk to Bridge.”

“Bridge here, Captain.” The Vulcan’s level voice came through the speaker.

“Mr. Spock, we need you down in sickbay right away.” Although few were more competent than his First Officer on the bridge of the Enterprise, Kirk needed his scientific mind more.

“On my way, Spock out.”

Kirk knew that now Hikaru Sulu was being placed in charge of the comm and like the rest of his Alpha shift he didn’t doubt his abilities. The trip to sickbay was only a short journey from the bridge, and Spock entered what seemed like moments later, making a path to the Captain by weaving silently through security to stand on the Captain’s other side, opposite McCoy. He seemed to take no notice of the McCoy clone.

“Spock!” The intruder however, spoke up, the first word he had said to anyone other than Nurse Chapel.

Spock paused and turned towards the unknown man and he tilted his head slightly, an eyebrow arching up for a moment before returning to normal. “Fascinating.” He took a step closer, standing beside a member of security who had picked his phaser back up when he spoke and now pointed it towards the intruder. Kirk and McCoy walked over to join Spock, each standing on either side of the Vulcan as he studied the intruder. “I’m afraid I do not know you, although you do bear some resemblance to Dr. McCoy,” Spock began to the man, “it appears the Captain and the ship's Chief Medical Officer do not know you either or they would not have called for my assistance.”

The intruder fidgeted, letting out a sigh and scratching the side of his head. All his military defiance seemed to drain out of his features. “My name is Dr. Leonard McCoy, I am from the USS Enterprise. A different Enterprise,” he added when both Kirk and Bones began to interject. “Commander Spock, on the Enterprise I come from, you told me that I should speak with you. That you would understand what was going on if you had all the information, and let’s be honest, I’m not so sure even I understand what’s going on entirely.” His southern accent wasn’t as deep as this universe’s McCoy, but it hinted at what might have been. He handed Spock a datapad, the writing signed with Spock’s own Vulcan name and a slightly different insignia.

Spock read it very quickly, before handing the datapad to Kirk who read it before handing it to McCoy. Spock didn’t seem phased by the information, even as the resident McCoy’s face twisted into a confused grimace. Spock turned back towards the intruder, “Please explain Dr. McCoy, as given the information you have just presented us with, I would hypothesize that you are from a parallel universe. While these universes do exist, it is unlikely two would converge on two instances of a ship at the same time without the interference of an electrical storm or other phenomenon.”

“You’re damn right, Spock, and that’s why both ships are in a lot of trouble. Our universe and yours may merge completely and then we’re all goners. If we don’t figure out a way to fix it, then all of space and time may merge with an alternate version of itself.”

“What would happen if the two ships merged?” Bones asked, he was still having trouble getting all this information into his head and into some sense. “Surely they would either cancel each other out or merge into a harmless anomaly. 

“We’ve already started seeing anomalies on the bridge and our sick bay, that’s how I got here. Five crew members were hospitalized when a walkway near engineering disappeared.” The parallel McCoy replied.

“It would appear that same walkway does not exist on our Enterprise,” Spock said. “We cannot begin to understand what may change until the change occurs, Captain. We may also have uninvited crewmembers appearing if the two universes begin to coalesce. Captain --”

Kirk nodded, “Your Captain, I presume he is also named James Kirk?”

Parallel McCoy nodded, “Captain Kirk… of my Enterprise is dealing the best he can with it, but we need both sides to work together.”

Spock was consulting the datapad again, working through an equation left by the other universe Spock. “It appears you were sent here because one member of this ship has journeyed between universes previously. The early scans show time particles evident in the ship and amongst the crew members.”

“Another intruder, without our knowledge Mr. Spock?” Kirk asked, “Perhaps they have come here because of the Delegate…”

“That is a possibility Captain. I will require some time to work through the equations I have been given before I will be able to assist in searching for the intruder..

“We understand,” Kirk stated and he and Bones turned his attention towards security. Kirk pointed to the two guards. “I believe you both should be assisting the Delegate and her party.” Then he turned toward the man that had jumped when Kirk activated the comm unit. “You stand guard, I don’t need anyone accidentally coming into Sickbay and fainting at the sight of two Leonard McCoys.” A smirk followed as both McCoys glowered at the Captain. Kirk gave a little nod to the security officers, dismissing them before either could protest. Kirk was cautiously satisfied that this man wasn’t armed and didn’t seem remotely dangerous. He didn’t need anything to get out to the Delegate that there were problems on board his ship.

The real McCoy (why yes, that was necessary) narrowed his eyes before walking up to the intruder and pointing at him. “I’ll need to run a couple of scans on you, I’m not satisfied that you aren’t a robot.”

Parallel McCoy stiffened slightly and looked offended. He momentarily grit his teeth before replying. “Only if I can run a scan on you first to make sure you aren’t too old to be a competent doctor.”

Kirk walked out of sickbay before he started laughing and made the situation worse. Part of being a captain was knowing when to walk away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Let's catch up with the Doctor and Clara and see what they're up to.

The Doctor and Clara drifted further and further back until the group of Altrix turned a corner and left them behind. When they were out of sight, and no voices were heard calling for them, both Timelord and his carer headed the opposite way. 

The Doctor glanced both directions down the corridor before putting on the sonic sunglasses that had sat quietly in a pocket under the robes. Tapping the side he watched as numbers and equations briefly filled the screen. “Oh, this is interesting…” 

Clara shot the Doctor a look and then after a pause, impatiently asked, “What is it?” 

“It looks as though…” he paused to read more calculations, “there was a time anomaly recently, near,” he paused again this time to orient himself, turning this way and that before pointing in the direction of, “sickbay”. He set off in that direction leaving Clara to hurry and catch up. 

“Doctor, what do you mean by anomaly? A rift in time or or a crack?” Clara asked when she reached him, letting out a little huff after having to almost run to keep up. 

The Doctor slowed slightly, barely even noticeable to anyone but Clara. “It’s more like a weakening between two alternate parallel universes. Think of it like a stomach ulcer allowing the acid to spill into the surrounding cavity. The other universe is spilling into this one and causing visions of its inhabitants to be seen. Judging by the strength of this anomaly I would say a full person has passed through it within the past 12 hours, perhaps less. The question, Clara, is what or whom is causing this weakening?” He raised his eyebrows briefly to emphasize the mystery of the situation.

“Do you think the Delegate has something to do with it? If they only recently boarded, then it would be an interesting coincidence.”

“Perhaps. Although it is far more likely the Delegate’s arrival is being used to mask the source of this anomaly.” 

“I suppose security would be busy with ensuring they were well taken care of and safe,” Clara wondered out loud.

“Yes, exactly.” 

They turned what seemed like the sixth corner and Clara felt another twinge of recognition and disbelief. Sickbay was just ahead. Dr. McCoy and Nurse Chapel would be there, if the show was correct, as well as machines and ways of healing far beyond that of Earth’s in her time. One security guard was standing outside the door. 

“Doctor?”

The Doctor made a noise of recognition as he scanned a nearby terminal. 

“Something must have happened in sickbay; there’s a guard standing watch outside.” There was a time that seeing the security guard would have worried her and their chances of entering, now it was just curious.

“The ships readings show a power surge occurring outside of the circuitry. Well, Clara, now we know this is where the anomaly occurred. Let’s go have a look.” He approached the security guard keeping his face hidden in the darkness of the hood of the robe and presented the leather wallet with the sonic paper inside it to him. 

The guard examined the paper, “Well, if the Delegate instructs you to see Dr. McCoy, I won’t get in your way, please be careful. Show that to Nurse Chapel when you get inside”.

The Doctor nodded and stepped back to allow Clara to proceed first. Clara couldn’t help but smile; she liked this species. When she stepped over the threshold, she paused to let everything wash over her. Her hood allowed her a little freedom to just stare and grin without being noticed. The sounds were clearer, but familiar, and the walls of machines and medical equipment seemed more real. Her brain struggled with a better term to describe them, but they were a little worn around the edges, made of a material she could only think of as what happened when you mixed plastic with steel. Lights flashed and screens showed numbers and indicators on scales and graphs. Somebody pinch me, she thought; she was in geek heaven. 

The Doctor gently put a hand on her shoulder, showing remarkable kindness and restraint, if she was honest and she shook herself out of her reverie. She gave a nod and took the psychic paper over to the woman who looked most like Nurse Chapel. She executed a little bow, she assumed that was the proper Altrix thing to do, and held out the paper to the woman who was (let’s be honest here) in charge of Sickbay. Clara had to remind herself, over and over, that she couldn’t show how excited she was. She looked remarkably like the TV show, if Clara didn’t know better she would have swore that they had plucked her right out of this universe and placed her in Clara’s present Earth. 

“May I help, --” Nurse Chapel began as she turned away from the datapad she was working on. Seeing the paper in Clara’s outstretched hand she paused to examine it. “Oh, I see. Well, I’m afraid Dr. McCoy is busy at the moment; I can let him know you’re here to see him. I see here that the Delegate has given you permission to speak with him; I understand that is an honour. I’m sure he’ll be pleased.”

No, he won’t, Clara thought and hid her grin with another quick bow. Not the often irritated, to-the-point Dr. Leonard McCoy she knew. She took half a step to the side and could just make out McCoy talking to someone. She blinked. The other man bore a striking resemblance to the younger McCoy in the movies franchise. She turned to look at the Doctor who gave a silent nod. When Chapel was far enough away he bent to whisper, “one of those men is covered in particles from a parallel universe.”

“It must be the younger man; he looks just like the Dr. McCoy from the movies.” 

Both of them watched Nurse Chapel walk to McCoy’s office to speak with him and when interrupted he gestured in a manner Clara interpreted to be annoyance. 

“He won’t be able to refuse an audience with one of the Delegate’s entourage,” the Doctor whispered and Clara could hear the smile on his face. 

“What am I supposed to say?” Clara asked as she watched Chapel win and McCoy excuse himself from his office. The flash of Spock standing with the younger McCoy made Clara’s eyes widen. 

“Just keep him busy,” the Timelord breezed, “I just need to take some readings around sickbay. Ask him about any unusual occurrences, say the Delegate is troubled. You’re a teacher; you’re good at making things up.” 

Normally Clara would have taken offense, but a younger Clara was dancing in her head at maybe meeting the actual Spock. 

Dr. Leonard McCoy, of this Enterprise and this time, walked over and gave a bow. He offered his hand, but Clara didn’t take it. She hadn’t seen anyone other than the Delegate touch another crew member. He withdrew it with a smile. “I’m Dr. Leonard McCoy, how can I help the Delegate and her entourage?”

Clara went to speak and found her vocal chords weren’t impressed by the situation. She swallowed and made a small noise clearing her throat. She could see Nurse Chapel out of the corner of her eye monitoring the situation. No doubt making sure McCoy was behaving himself, she thought. 

However, the good doctor interpreted the sound as something else and smiled that good ol’ smile at her. “Where are my manners? We should talk someplace private. If the Delegate has given you permission to speak, it shouldn’t be in the middle of sickbay. Come right this way.” He gestured back towards his office and Clara took a deep breath. This would offer some of a distraction for the Doctor as Nurse Chapel was busy with paperwork and her PADD. He was looking around; occasionally shifting his sonic sunglasses down and up to take another reading. 

Dr. McCoy opened the door, Southern hospitality or briefing about the Altrix culture she didn’t know which, but she nodded and gave a small bow to each of the beings inside. The McCoy doppleganger smiled and she mentally confirmed her suspicion. He looked exactly like the young McCoy of the movies. Was he the person who had crossed over? 

Spock looked exactly the same as the television Spock she had grown up with. Although his ears looked natural and not prosthetic and his posture was slightly more formal and rigid, she swore he was the same person. Remembering the diplomatic nature of the species she was pretending to be, she held her hand up in the Vulcan salute, hoping and praying that this was also something Roddenberry had stolen for the show. She didn’t speak, she wanted to say ‘live long and prosper’ but she couldn’t, even if she tried. He was a childhood hero, made real. 

After what seemed like an eternity, but was merely seconds, Spock returned the greeting although slightly different to her own. Instead of the ‘V’ formed with two fingers straight on either side, his was a smaller curved ‘v’ with fingers bent slightly towards the other person instead of straightened. 

“Thank you,” he said as both put their hands down. “While the greeting was not exact as it is performed on Vulcan, you have not been misunderstood. Please excuse us; we shall leave you and Dr. McCoy in private.” 

Altrix, she reminded herself, hated being misunderstood and she gave a small nod of thanks as Spock and the parallel McCoy left his office. Clara watched them walk past the Doctor and out into the corridor. When she turned back around Leonard McCoy was offering her a chair, which she accepted, and a drink, which she did not, before she started to speak. 

She kept her voice quiet, trying to think of those people that took vows of silence and how even when they could speak it usually was barely more than a whisper. “The Delegate thanks you,” she began, wishing she had taken more than one improv class. “Within the past twenty-four...standard hours there have been times when disturbances were felt by the Delegate, she is… troubled.” Clara had no idea what to call her and hoped there wasn’t a well known title. “Is alarm or warning required?” 

McCoy shook his head and if he sensed something was amiss, he didn’t say anything. “Now, I don’t believe there have been any disturbances. Maybe a bit of space debris rocking the ship a bit harder than the Captain would like or, maybe the atmosphere if the quarters have been adjusted. I can send a technician to have a look.” 

“That would be a lot of trouble,” she said trying to strike a line in her mind between Vulcan and human. It was the closest thing she could compare to what little Altrix dialogue she had heard, “and unnecessary. The Delegate will receive this information. Thank you Dr. McCoy, your time has not been wasted.” She stood and the doctor stood as well. 

“Can I ask you, one question,” McCoy asked and Clara felt her stomach give a little lurch in fear. 

“Yes.” 

“Why did you ask to speak with me? The Captain or Chief Engineer would have better answers than I would. Even Spock, as Chief Science Officer, would be better equipped to explain.” 

Clara glanced back into the medbay. She could hear the Doctor talking and knew she needed to leave. “Sadly this is unknown to me,” Clara said carefully, “the Entourage moves as the Delegate requests.” Oh, she was proud of that statement that sounded right. 

It seemed to satisfy McCoy as well, as he smiled and nodded his head to her. Moving around the desk he opened the door and she moved out to see the Doctor examining a PADD for Nurse Chapel. He tapped a couple of buttons and a light previously dark began to blink. He handed it back to her and waited for Clara to file past him out of Sickbay, past the guard and down the hall. It wasn’t until they were around the corridor that Clara exhaled. 

“Doctor, I just met Dr. Leonard McCoy and Spock. Actual real travellers in space.” She was beaming and laughed when she caught sight of the Doctor looking rather unimpressed. 

“Clara, I am a real traveller in space, I travel in time, too! With a police box and everything. You already know me.” 

Clara giggled and nodded, “Are you jealous, Doctor?” 

They turned the corner and instead of continuing their banter ran into the Delegate with the rest of the Entourage. 

“There you are.” The Delegate said casually, but Clara noted she wasn’t smiling. “Come with --” the Delegate began before the ship lurched violently to one side. Two members of her entourage just missed hitting their heads on the terminals embedded into the wall as they lost balance. “What is this?” 

The Doctor checked a display screen and looked to the Delegate gravely, scratching the side of his grey locks. “Another anomaly, twice as big this time.” 

When the Delegate looked shocked and Clara went to protest, the Doctor shook his head and pushed back the hood on his robe, ruining his disguise. “No time for costumes, Clara. We have maybe, twenty-four hours before the ship begins to rip apart.” 

The Delegate’s Entourage, nursing their bumps and bruises didn’t speak, but the Delegate nodded. “I will ask your qualifications at a later time. If what you say is true, fixing this matter is something of extreme importance. You must contact the Captain.”

Like clockwork, no sooner had the Delegate spoken that the lights began to flash to signal an emergency. “Red alert, red alert…” the computer’s calm voice said and Clara wondered, even as people were hurried into rooms by security officers if Gene Roddenberry’s wife had also been from this time. It certainly sounded like her.

“Don’t you understand,” the Doctor protested. “I need to speak with the Captain!” The security officer shook his head and said something about this only being temporary. The doors shut and Clara and the Doctor found themselves locked in a cabin with the Altrix they had just revealed themselves to. “Doctor,” Clara said, “we need to get out of here.”


End file.
